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Local bakers prove all king cakes are not equal

Melissa Bertinot (from left), Robert Bertinot and Dianna
Bertinot work on decorating a variety of king cakes Tuesday at Best Bakery in Houma.

Matt Stamey/Staff

Laura McKnightStaff Writer

Published: Monday, February 1, 2010 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, January 29, 2010 at 3:14 p.m.

HOUMA — Their thick icing and happy-colored sugar make them easily recognizable as those delicious trademarks of Mardi Gras season: king cakes.

But a closer look — or, even better, a bite — reveals these cakes are not ordinary Carnival treats.

Devout followers of places like Mr. Ronnie's Famous Hot Donuts or Best Bakery in Houma are delighted to find king cakes formed from the same unique dough as their favorite sweets: glazed doughnuts and Chix de Femme rolls.

“It's got a place in the king cake world of its own,” said Robert “T-Rob” Bertinot, who owns Best Bakery with his wife, Melissa, referring to the bakery's specialty king cakes made with the yellow Chix de Femme dough.

South Louisiana bakers have expanded king-cake customs to include dozens of gooey fillings and toppings; yet when it comes to dough, most stick to cinnamon or brioche-style breads.

But some local spots offer unique cakes based on their own sweet traditions.

“We do doughnuts; we stick to what we do best,” said Wendy Picou, general manager of Mr. Ronnie's, which makes king cakes using the batter and process used to make their signature glazed doughnuts.

Best Bakery owners said they do the same with their cakes, keeping with the yellow Chix de Femme dough known throughout Houma.

The nontraditional pastries appeal to those hungry for a different taste of Carnival, including some put off by more typical king cakes, particularly cinnamon-haters.

“People who say they don't like king cakes like ours,” said Shelley Matrana, a Best Bakery employee and Robert's sister-in-law.

‘A donut cake'

Hot, glazed doughnuts top the bestseller list yearround at Mr. Ronnie's, and during Mardi Gras, fans of that doughnut can find a giant variation on it in the form of a king cake.

Mr. Ronnie's uses its same original glaze and doughnut mix, as well as its special doughnut-making process, to make king cakes. The only difference comes in the extra kneading required for the dough to keep a sturdy cake shape, said Ronnie Picou, founder of Mr. Ronnie's. The large donuts are then topped with extra glaze and coated in colored sugar and sprinkles.

The doughnut shop offers various fillings, such as apple and cream cheese, but most popular is the one filling the retired Ronnie Picou makes himself — pecan praline.

Mr. Ronnie's sells thousands of the king cakes each year to those with a preference for doughnuts.

“Everybody has their own taste,” Ronnie Picou said.

The doughnut shop owner's king-cake legacy extends beyond being unique: The Picous' first doughnut business helped introduce the New Orleans tradition to the Houma area, the Picous said.

The Picous began selling king cakes in 1976, nearly a year after they opened their Tastee Donuts franchise on Barrow Street in Houma. Ronnie said other local businesses may have sold king cakes at that time, but he knows of none.

“People here didn't even know what king cakes were,” Ronnie said.

He remembers explaining the cakes' religious significance to many curious customers.

Picou himself had never seen or tasted a king cake until he and his wife attended training in advance of running their Tastee Donuts shop. Training for the New Orleans-based franchise included making all sorts of pastries, even king cake using doughnut batter.

King-cake sales proved less than stellar the first Mardi Gras season, largely due to customers' unfamiliarity with the desserts, Ronnie said.

“I was a little disappointed because all we sold was 77 the first year,” he said. This was at a point when Houma had just three Mardi Gras parades, the Picous added.

The next Mardi Gras season, the Picous added brochures explaining the meaning and tradition of the cakes, and sales jumped to nearly 800.

“It took off,” Ronnie said.

The cakes started selling by the thousands and continued enjoying major demand until the Picous sold the franchise. When Ronnie and son, Bud, opened Mr. Ronnie's Famous Hot Donuts in 1994, they continued offering king cakes made with doughnut batter.

As Houma's Carnival festivities have grown, king cakes have grown as well. Large local grocers and even national chains like Wal-Mart offer the cakes, filling the area's demand while allowing Mr. Ronnie's to keep its doughnut-mix niche.

“King cakes are just a part of our culture now,” Wendy said. “Everybody makes them.”

‘BUN of a woman'

The bright yellow rolls beckon from store countertops and aisles throughout this area, but despite the popularity of the Chix de Femme roll, the existence of the Chix de Femme king cake is not-so-common knowledge.

Best Bakery does not advertise its unusual king cakes, but demand for them is beginning to rise through word of mouth. Hundreds sell each season.

The Chix de Femme cakes come with various fillings — Bavarian cream, cream cheese, apple, pecan praline and pecan praline-cream cheese are most popular — and toppings like chocolate or caramel drizzle.

The most beloved topping by far is the “half-and-half,” which includes sections of white icing covered in colored sugar sprinkles and sections drizzled in caramel-pecan icing. The split toppings appease both sugar fans and those with a softer sweet tooth, said Melissa Bertinot, Robert's wife and Shelley's sister.

The bakery also makes fleur-de-lis cakes from the dough, decorated with Carnival or Saints colors, and fills orders year-round for king cakes customized for holidays, birthdays and even a wedding.

Yet some people request no topping, no filling; they just want a large oval of the chewy yellow dough.

“It has its own flavor,” Robert Bertinot said.

Best Bakery started making king cakes out of the dough in about 1997, after Melissa's brief and unsatisfying attempt to make cakes with more traditional dough.

Melissa's dad, who owned the bakery from 1995 until several years ago, when Melissa and Robert bought it, suggested using the Chix de Femme dough.

The Bertinots inherited the recipe for Chix de Femme from Best Bakery's previous owner. The roll's name means “bun of a woman” in French, a tribute to the pastry's resemblance to a bun hairdo.

The odd, slightly sweet yellow dough originated in Houma in the early 1900s, the invention of a Cajun-French man who ran a bakery near Terrebonne General Medical Center, Melissa Bertinot said. “It's a Cajun-French pastry,” Matrana said.

The story goes that two men who worked at the bakery each opened their own bakeries, one of those being Best Bakery, and incorporated the rolls into their offerings.

The other bakery selling the rolls closed in the 1990s, the Bertinots said, leaving Best Bakery as the only spot left with the original recipe, at least to their knowledge.

The yellow dough forms warm childhood memories and ongoing traditions for a number of local families, so a king cake made of the pastry adds a special flavor to their Carnival season. “It's so moist,” Matrana said. “It's hard to cut it into different pieces, it's so moist.”

<p>HOUMA — Their thick icing and happy-colored sugar make them easily recognizable as those delicious trademarks of Mardi Gras season: king cakes.</p><p>But a closer look — or, even better, a bite — reveals these cakes are not ordinary Carnival treats.</p><p>Devout followers of places like Mr. Ronnie's Famous Hot Donuts or Best Bakery in Houma are delighted to find king cakes formed from the same unique dough as their favorite sweets: glazed doughnuts and Chix de Femme rolls. </p><p>“It's got a place in the king cake world of its own,” said Robert “T-Rob” Bertinot, who owns Best Bakery with his wife, Melissa, referring to the bakery's specialty king cakes made with the yellow Chix de Femme dough.</p><p>South Louisiana bakers have expanded king-cake customs to include dozens of gooey fillings and toppings; yet when it comes to dough, most stick to cinnamon or brioche-style breads.</p><p>But some local spots offer unique cakes based on their own sweet traditions.</p><p>“We do doughnuts; we stick to what we do best,” said Wendy Picou, general manager of Mr. Ronnie's, which makes king cakes using the batter and process used to make their signature glazed doughnuts. </p><p>Best Bakery owners said they do the same with their cakes, keeping with the yellow Chix de Femme dough known throughout Houma.</p><p>The nontraditional pastries appeal to those hungry for a different taste of Carnival, including some put off by more typical king cakes, particularly cinnamon-haters.</p><p>“People who say they don't like king cakes like ours,” said Shelley Matrana, a Best Bakery employee and Robert's sister-in-law.</p><p>'A donut cake'</p><p>Hot, glazed doughnuts top the bestseller list yearround at Mr. Ronnie's, and during Mardi Gras, fans of that doughnut can find a giant variation on it in the form of a king cake. </p><p>Mr. Ronnie's uses its same original glaze and doughnut mix, as well as its special doughnut-making process, to make king cakes. The only difference comes in the extra kneading required for the dough to keep a sturdy cake shape, said Ronnie Picou, founder of Mr. Ronnie's. The large donuts are then topped with extra glaze and coated in colored sugar and sprinkles. </p><p>Some customers enjoy the cakes because they're cinnamon-free, Wendy Picou said. </p><p>“They also like it because it's a donut cake,” she said.</p><p>The doughnut shop offers various fillings, such as apple and cream cheese, but most popular is the one filling the retired Ronnie Picou makes himself — pecan praline. </p><p>Mr. Ronnie's sells thousands of the king cakes each year to those with a preference for doughnuts. </p><p>“Everybody has their own taste,” Ronnie Picou said. </p><p>The doughnut shop owner's king-cake legacy extends beyond being unique: The Picous' first doughnut business helped introduce the New Orleans tradition to the Houma area, the Picous said. </p><p>The Picous began selling king cakes in 1976, nearly a year after they opened their Tastee Donuts franchise on Barrow Street in Houma. Ronnie said other local businesses may have sold king cakes at that time, but he knows of none. </p><p>“People here didn't even know what king cakes were,” Ronnie said.</p><p>He remembers explaining the cakes' religious significance to many curious customers.</p><p>Picou himself had never seen or tasted a king cake until he and his wife attended training in advance of running their Tastee Donuts shop. Training for the New Orleans-based franchise included making all sorts of pastries, even king cake using doughnut batter.</p><p>King-cake sales proved less than stellar the first Mardi Gras season, largely due to customers' unfamiliarity with the desserts, Ronnie said.</p><p>“I was a little disappointed because all we sold was 77 the first year,” he said. This was at a point when Houma had just three Mardi Gras parades, the Picous added. </p><p>The next Mardi Gras season, the Picous added brochures explaining the meaning and tradition of the cakes, and sales jumped to nearly 800. </p><p>“It took off,” Ronnie said.</p><p>The cakes started selling by the thousands and continued enjoying major demand until the Picous sold the franchise. When Ronnie and son, Bud, opened Mr. Ronnie's Famous Hot Donuts in 1994, they continued offering king cakes made with doughnut batter.</p><p>As Houma's Carnival festivities have grown, king cakes have grown as well. Large local grocers and even national chains like Wal-Mart offer the cakes, filling the area's demand while allowing Mr. Ronnie's to keep its doughnut-mix niche.</p><p>“King cakes are just a part of our culture now,” Wendy said. “Everybody makes them.”</p><p>'BUN of a woman'</p><p>The bright yellow rolls beckon from store countertops and aisles throughout this area, but despite the popularity of the Chix de Femme roll, the existence of the Chix de Femme king cake is not-so-common knowledge. </p><p>Best Bakery does not advertise its unusual king cakes, but demand for them is beginning to rise through word of mouth. Hundreds sell each season.</p><p>The Chix de Femme cakes come with various fillings — Bavarian cream, cream cheese, apple, pecan praline and pecan praline-cream cheese are most popular — and toppings like chocolate or caramel drizzle. </p><p>The most beloved topping by far is the “half-and-half,” which includes sections of white icing covered in colored sugar sprinkles and sections drizzled in caramel-pecan icing. The split toppings appease both sugar fans and those with a softer sweet tooth, said Melissa Bertinot, Robert's wife and Shelley's sister. </p><p>The bakery also makes fleur-de-lis cakes from the dough, decorated with Carnival or Saints colors, and fills orders year-round for king cakes customized for holidays, birthdays and even a wedding. </p><p>Yet some people request no topping, no filling; they just want a large oval of the chewy yellow dough. </p><p>“It has its own flavor,” Robert Bertinot said.</p><p>Best Bakery started making king cakes out of the dough in about 1997, after Melissa's brief and unsatisfying attempt to make cakes with more traditional dough. </p><p>Melissa's dad, who owned the bakery from 1995 until several years ago, when Melissa and Robert bought it, suggested using the Chix de Femme dough.</p><p>The Bertinots inherited the recipe for Chix de Femme from Best Bakery's previous owner. The roll's name means “bun of a woman” in French, a tribute to the pastry's resemblance to a bun hairdo. </p><p>The odd, slightly sweet yellow dough originated in Houma in the early 1900s, the invention of a Cajun-French man who ran a bakery near Terrebonne General Medical Center, Melissa Bertinot said. “It's a Cajun-French pastry,” Matrana said. </p><p>The story goes that two men who worked at the bakery each opened their own bakeries, one of those being Best Bakery, and incorporated the rolls into their offerings.</p><p>The other bakery selling the rolls closed in the 1990s, the Bertinots said, leaving Best Bakery as the only spot left with the original recipe, at least to their knowledge.</p><p>The yellow dough forms warm childhood memories and ongoing traditions for a number of local families, so a king cake made of the pastry adds a special flavor to their Carnival season. “It's so moist,” Matrana said. “It's hard to cut it into different pieces, it's so moist.”</p>